Following the recommendation of Potter County Commissioner Joe Kirkwood, the county has scheduled a series of public meetings beginning next week dedicated to the TIRZ.

The county is the only entity involved with the TIRZ that has expressed any possible problems with - or opposition to - the TIRZ, and that has come primarily from Commissioners Lacy Borger, Manny Perez and Kirkwood.

If there are residents who share similar concerns, now is the chance to ask questions and form an educated opinion on what the TIRZ is and what it can do for the future of downtown Amarillo.

County residents are urged to attend at least one of the meetings, and commissioners should attend each of the meetings in their respective precincts, especially considering the importance of the TIRZ project and the many questions and statements commissioners have expressed publicly in the past few weeks.

Despite several public hearings related to the TIRZ proposal since it became an issue, there is still a great degree of misunderstanding and uninformed viewpoints.

Now's the time for an honest, valid and accurate assessment.

The county plans on a final vote on TIRZ participation in October, and a recent proposal by the county's TIRZ committee revealed only about a $1 million difference between what the county wants and a previously offered deal.

Downtown redevelopment will require the cooperation of all the tax entities that comprise the downtown area.

In the long run, all will benefit from an increased tax base and greater property values.

Hopefully, county residents - as well as commissioners - will not fall back on the tradition of apathy that plagues most governments at the ballot box.